Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant (35) looks towards an official during Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals in the NBA playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Wednesday, May 21, 2014. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman

A 112-77 loss. A fourth quarter that was nothing more than a junior varsity game. This was among the worst and most embarrassing defeats in Thunder history. And the grades reflect it.

3-point shooting: F. The Thunder made just two of 20 3-pointers. Both makes came in the first 10 minutes. The Thunder missed its last 17 attempts. Just as bad as the misses were the decisions. The Thunder shot too many quick 3-pointers. During one stretch of the third quarter, the Thunder took four straight 3-point shots, over three possessions. That came during a period in which the Spurs scored on just one of four possessions, but the Thunder didn’t cut into the lead.

Handling foul trouble: C. The Thunder did a decent job juggling early foul trouble. Nick Collison got his second foul 41/2 minutes into the game. Steven Adams picked up two fouls in the first quarter. Kendrick Perkins got his third foul with 9:37 left in the second quarter. Still, the Thunder led as late as 6:20 left in the second quarter. That 36-35 lead could have been more, but the Thunder didn’t take advantage of Kawhi Leonard’s foul trouble. Leonard played just 9:17 in the first half. In the nine minutes Kevin Durant was on the court in the first half with Leonard on the bench, Durant got just four shots. He made two and added three foul shots. Seven points isn’t enough.

Foul shooting: F. The Thunder made just four of nine foul shots in the first half. Durant missed two on a trip to the line with 1:40 left in the first quarter and OKC up 22-21. Adams missed two with 5:33 left in the second quarter, when the Spurs were early in what became a 10-0 run. Compounding the problem, the Thunder got only one foul shot in the second half.

Starting lineup: D. The new starting lineup again failed. Scotty Brooks had to substitute early, 4:36 into the game and the Spurs up 9-7, because of Collison’s foul trouble. But Brooks bailed on the lineup because of performance in the third quarter. The first 3:07 of the second half, the Spurs outscored OKC 9-4. That’s an 18-11 deficit for the Thunder starters in less than eight minutes of playing time.

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by Berry Tramel

Columnist

Berry Tramel, a lifelong Oklahoman, sports fan and newspaper reader, joined The Oklahoman in 1991 and has served as beat writer, assistant sports editor, sports editor and columnist. Tramel grew up reading four daily newspapers — The Oklahoman,...